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Tonbridge and Ashford timetables

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yorksrob

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The Orient Express was the only loco hauled passenger train I remember from the 90's.

There was the stopper, one that went fast from Ashford to Paddock Wood and lots that went Ashford, Headcorn, Staplehurst, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge (plus the odd boat train thrown in).
 

steamybrian

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In the 1980s there was a daily Dover to Manchester (or maybe Liverpool) service which I remember catching from Tonbridge to Crewe. It was hauled by a class 47.
The Victoria - Dover Marine Night Ferry service (with through carriages to Paris) hauled by class 71 locos finished around 1980.
 

30907

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The loco hauleds included the Dover Mails via Redhill and a newspaper train, but basically very little since electrification - standard SR practice.

The offpeak pattern I remember from around 1980 off CHX was xx00 fast to Ashford (later via Maidstone E), xx03 Ashford stopper, xx30 non-stop Paddock Wood-Ashford (until they added Staplehurst and Headcorn).
 

Sad Sprinter

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Did the CHX to Ashford super fasts run in the peak too? The 2009 timetable shows the last fast train from CHX is at 3 o'clock. Otherwise its all stations to Margate until the next day.

What about sundays? Again, the 2008/9 timetable has Kent Coast services all stations, including Orpington. Not great for passengers wanting a Sunday day out in London from Folkstone or Ashfrod.
 

30907

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Did the CHX to Ashford super fasts run in the peak too? The 2009 timetable shows the last fast train from CHX is at 3 o'clock. Otherwise its all stations to Margate until the next day.

What about sundays? Again, the 2008/9 timetable has Kent Coast services all stations, including Orpington. Not great for passengers wanting a Sunday day out in London from Folkstone or Ashfrod.
Bear in mind we are talking 80s and 90s - but no, they didnt. There was a 1600, but in the evening peak IIRC there was 1 path every 20 (later 22) minutes out of CHX for Tonbridge and beyond and 2 from CST; intermediate stops Tonbridge-Ashford were steadily added ending.
 

hexagon789

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Does anyone know the timetables on the Tonbridge Ashford section in the 80s and 90s please? And were these ever loco hauled?
Any particular year?

(I have all of 1980-88 plus 1990, winter 1992, summer 1993 and summer 1999.)
 

Taunton

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Most of the Southern timetabled longer-haul services leaving London from 0100-0300 that followed oddball routes were loco-hauled news/mail/parcels van trains with some passenger accommodation included, Class 73 or Class 33. On Saturday nights they tended to be earlier as the Sunday papers were printed earlier.
 

Tintinabukent

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There's a service booked to run fast AFK-TON Tuesday to Friday this week (13/07/2021-16/07/2021) for The Open at Sandwich.


When was the last time a passenger service was timetabled to do this, excluding excursions and the like? Any between 2009 and now?
 

30907

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There's a service booked to run fast AFK-TON Tuesday to Friday this week (13/07/2021-16/07/2021) for The Open at Sandwich.


When was the last time a passenger service was timetabled to do this, excluding excursions and the like? Any between 2009 and now?
ISTR there was one down working leaving London sometime 0800-0900 when the post-2009 timetable came in, but I can't access timetables ATM, and itcseems to have disappeared.
 

BluePenguin

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ISTR there was one down working leaving London sometime 0800-0900 when the post-2009 timetable came in, but I can't access timetables ATM, and itcseems to have disappeared.
It used to run every week day at 09:22 from Charing Cross calling at Waterloo East, London Bridge, Orpington, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Ashford International and then all stations to Ramsgate via Canterbury West. I caught it one morning in 2018 on my way home from Stansted, having wanted to catch it for a long while although had never needed to travel back from London at that time of day before.

We flew through the fast lines at Paddock wood and Headcorn at such great speed that we arrived into Ashford early. It was the return working of a peak service.

In the next time table change it was cut back to Ashford only but the same calling pattern was kept. Until 2010 the original hourly fast services were non stop between Waterloo East and Tonbridge.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any other similar services that currently run, which is a shame. The new franchise includes semi fasts, not quite the same as back in the day though as they will call at Paddock Wood, Sevenoaks and London Bridge - coincidentally almost the same as the fast for the Golf Open!
 

Tintinabukent

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ISTR there was one down working leaving London sometime 0800-0900 when the post-2009 timetable came in, but I can't access timetables ATM, and itcseems to have disappeared.

It used to run every week day at 09:22 from Charing Cross calling at Waterloo East, London Bridge, Orpington, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Ashford International and then all stations to Ramsgate via Canterbury West. I caught it one morning in 2018 on my way home from Stansted, having wanted to catch it for a long while although had never needed to travel back from London at that time of day before.

We flew through the fast lines at Paddock wood and Headcorn at such great speed that we arrived into Ashford early. It was the return working of a peak service.

In the next time table change it was cut back to Ashford only but the same calling pattern was kept. Until 2010 the original hourly fast services were non stop between Waterloo East and Tonbridge.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any other similar services that currently run, which is a shame. The new franchise includes semi fasts, not quite the same as back in the day though as they will call at Paddock Wood, Sevenoaks and London Bridge - coincidentally almost the same as the fast for the Golf Open!
You're right. I'm not sure how I forgot about that morning service as I've caught it myself. It just seems so long ago.

The timings on this week's one do seem generous between Ashford and Tonbridge. It looks like it didn't run today sadly.

It'll be interesting to see if these new semi-fasts do materialise. I know this isn't the right thread for this sort of discussion, but I haven't see anything concrete about them yet.
 

nw1

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Does anyone know the timetables on the Tonbridge Ashford section in the 80s and 90s please? And were these ever loco hauled?

Sorry, I've just seen this is an old thread. However I'll leave my post as it may be of interest:

I do clearly remember the 1987/88 timetable, which was introduced the previous year at the time of the Hastings electrification.

From Charing Cross you had:

x55 or xx57 (the former I think) express service which went fast from Waterloo East to Ashford, then headed towards Dover. CEPs.

xx00 Ashford stopper. Mostly VEPs with a few CEP workings.

xx30 semi-fast calling I think at Orpington, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Paddock Wood, Ashford. Split at Ashford for Margate via Dover and via Canterbury. CEPs.

You also had the xx15 and xx45 out of Charing Cross on the Hastings line, one to Hastings, one to Tunbridge Wells (can't remember which was which though). The Hastings service was "1066 electrics" branded CEPs. The Tunbridge Wells appeared to be 2/3 1066 CEP, 1/3 VEP off peak, but towards the peak more VEPs took over.

One thing that struck me at that time was the very ''neat' departure pattern out of Charing Cross, compared to the more irregular (but still repeating every hour) patterns out of Waterloo or Victoria.

I'm a bit more vague as to other periods within the 80s or 90s, but in the late 90s the pattern *may* have been something like 00-10-15-30-40-45 out of Charing Cross, with two beyond-Ashford fasts, two Ashford slows, and two Hastings. I do remember travelling this section on Eurostar (Montpellier via Beckenham Junction, Orpington, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Paris - there was a curious charm in starting such a long journey on regular ex-NSE commuter lines...) in 1999 and noting the varied assortment of units doing the local services, including not just 4CEPs and 4VEPs by this time but also CIGs and some 3CEPs.
 
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rf_ioliver

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<lots snipped>

I'm a bit more vague as to other periods within the 80s or 90s, but in the late 90s the pattern *may* have been something like 00-10-15-30-40-45 out of Charing Cross, with two beyond-Ashford fasts, two Ashford slows, and two Hastings. I do remember travelling this section on Eurostar (Montpellier via Beckenham Junction, Orpington, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Paris - there was a curious charm in starting such a long journey on regular ex-NSE commuter lines...) in 1999 and noting the varied assortment of units doing the local services, including not just 4CEPs and 4VEPs by this time but also CIGs and some 3CEPs.

I remember back in 1993 (summer) I ended up in Kent and took advantage of the experience of travelling around on interesting electric trains. I remember clearly being on Ashford station waiting for a train back to Lenham and seeing at least 2 or 3 non-stop trains go through Ashford.

I assume these would have been non-stop to Folkestone and Dover Marine?

thanks
 

nw1

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I remember back in 1993 (summer) I ended up in Kent and took advantage of the experience of travelling around on interesting electric trains. I remember clearly being on Ashford station waiting for a train back to Lenham and seeing at least 2 or 3 non-stop trains go through Ashford.

I assume these would have been non-stop to Folkestone and Dover Marine?

thanks

Others can probably answer with more certainty but given that Eurostar didn't start until 1994, I'm guessing that in 1993 the old-style boat trains were still running.
 

yorksrob

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Sorry, I've just seen this is an old thread. However I'll leave my post as it may be of interest:

I do clearly remember the 1987/88 timetable, which was introduced the previous year at the time of the Hastings electrification.

From Charing Cross you had:

x55 or xx57 (the former I think) express service which went fast from Waterloo East to Ashford, then headed towards Dover. CEPs.

xx00 Ashford stopper. Mostly VEPs with a few CEP workings.

xx30 semi-fast calling I think at Orpington, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Paddock Wood, Ashford. Split at Ashford for Margate via Dover and via Canterbury. CEPs.

You also had the xx15 and xx45 out of Charing Cross on the Hastings line, one to Hastings, one to Tunbridge Wells (can't remember which was which though). The Hastings service was "1066 electrics" branded CEPs. The Tunbridge Wells appeared to be 2/3 1066 CEP, 1/3 VEP off peak, but towards the peak more VEPs took over.

One thing that struck me at that time was the very ''neat' departure pattern out of Charing Cross, compared to the more irregular (but still repeating every hour) patterns out of Waterloo or Victoria.

I'm a bit more vague as to other periods within the 80s or 90s, but in the late 90s the pattern *may* have been something like 00-10-15-30-40-45 out of Charing Cross, with two beyond-Ashford fasts, two Ashford slows, and two Hastings. I do remember travelling this section on Eurostar (Montpellier via Beckenham Junction, Orpington, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Paris - there was a curious charm in starting such a long journey on regular ex-NSE commuter lines...) in 1999 and noting the varied assortment of units doing the local services, including not just 4CEPs and 4VEPs by this time but also CIGs and some 3CEPs.

Yes, I definitely appreciated the arrival of the CIG's on the South Eastern.

The first time I noticed them was when one went past my window at secondary school (It was next to the Ashford - Canterbury line ).
 

Route115?

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I was at university at Canterbury from 1978 to 1981. There was an hourly through service from Canterbury West to Charing X OP calling at (I think) Ashford, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, Orpington & Waterloo East (not London Bridge). There was also an hourly service to Victoria via Ashford & Maidstone East stopping at most stns. This connected with a train from Ramsagte via Dover at Ashford than ran non stop from Ashford - Waterloo East. I think that it was meant for Hovercraft traffic. A lively ride with unrefurbished CEPS! I think in later years for a few years it ran via Maidstone. During the peak there was a variety of stopping patterns.
 
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30907

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This connected with a train from Ramsagte via Dover at Asgord than ran non stop from Ashford - Waterloo East. I think that it was meant for Hovercraft traffic. A lively ride with unrefurbished CEPS! I think in later years for a few years it ran via Maidstone. During the peak there was a variety of stopping patterns.
It did convey Hovercraft passengers, but it was the principal fast service to that part of the Kent Coast (and had previously had a portion via Canterbury W).
 
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